What does the term malakos, translated as "effeminate," mean in 1 Corinthians 6:9?

Homosexuality Is Not a Sin

Homosexuality Is a Sin

Some people translate the ancient Greek word malakos, which is located before the ancient Greek work arsenokoites in 1 Cor. 6:9, to refer to an effeminate passive partner in a homosexual relationship. The term malakos, written as μαλακός in the Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary, means "soft, tender; sickly; mild, gentle; tender, delicate; effeminate, cowardly; careless, remiss; luxurious, wanton."1 Similarly, the word malakos or μαλακός according to A Greek-English Lexicon means, in regards to a person, "soft, mild, gentle, faint-hearted, cowardly, morally weak, lacking in self control, weakly, and sickly."2

According to Strong's Concordance, malakos actually means "(o)f uncertain affinity; soft, that is, fine (clothing); figuratively a catamite: - effeminate, soft."4 Some people think that malakos may have referred to a passive partner in a man-man or a man-boy sexual relationship. Undoubtedly, effeminate homosexual men existed in ancient Greece and Rome; however, malakos was never used in ancient Greek literature to refer to their homosexual passive role.5 Instead, malakos was used to describe them as "effeminate" or "weak." Moreover, the passive homosexual partner was referred to as ευρυπρωκτος or euruprōktos which meant "wide-arsed, bugger" or as a cindaedus (a.k.a.κίναιδος or kinaidos).6

Malakos is only used once in ancient Greek literature to discribe a passive partner, specifically a boy who is involved in a man-boy relationship. However, malakos is not used to describe the boy's passive role; instead, malakos is used to describe the boy as a "sissy," which is a weakling.7 Thus, it is possible that, with malakos occurring next to the word arsenokoitēs in the Bible, arsenokoitēs could have referred to men who are pedophiles. However, the word that that was used to describe a boy in this type of relationship was kinaidos or κίναιδος, not malakos, and some scholars state that kinaidos, which means "catamite," referred to a man in a man-man relationship as the "passive" partner as well.8

A catamite is a boy or youth in a sexual relationship with another man, and its first known use in the English language was in 1593, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.9 The Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary also defines the word kinaidos, and not the word malakos, to mean "catamite, lewd person."10 However, there were several common Greek words that were used to describe men in relationships with boys if Paul had intended arsenokoitēs to refer them. For example, a Greek word referring only to men who lusted after boys existed, παιδομανής, which meant "mad after boys," along with παιδομανία, which meant "mad love for boys" and even παιδοκόραξ, which meant "boy-raven, i.e., greedy after boys."11 And yet, Paul did not choose to use one of these words to either describe someone who is malakos or who is arsenokoitēs.

Most Bible versions do not translate the word malakos to mean "catamite." The Jerusalem Bible (JB) is the only Bible that translates the word malakos as "catamite" (see 1 Cor. 6:9 JB.) On the other hand, The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) translates the word malakos to mean "self-indulgent" because malakos can also refer to a person who lacked self-control or who indulged in pleasures (see1 Cor. 6:9 NJB).12

Paul could have used another ancient Greek word ἀνδρόπορνος or andrόpornos, which also meant "cineadus," in place of the word malakos if Paul had intended to say that a camatite will not enter into heaven.13Cineadus is a Latin word which means "he who practices unnatural lust, a sodomite, catamite," and cineadus is equivalent to the ancient Greek term kinaidos or κίναιδος, which means that andrόpornos is also equivalent to kinaidos.14 Once again, if Paul had intended the word malakos to be translated as a catamite, he could have used the words andrόpornos or kinaidos instead of malakos. Instead, Paul chose to use the word malakos to describe morally-weak men who will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

People who believe that homosexuality is not a sin argue that the phrase "men who practice homosexuality" in the English Standard Version Bible is not an accurate translation of the word arsenokoitēs. Instead, they argue that the all-encompassing phrase "abusers of themselves with mankind" in the King James Version Bible is a more accurate translation of arsenokoitēs, and, thus, the newer ESV translation of the Bible is inaccurate along with other translations that refer to arsenokoitēs as male homosexuals. They believe that the phrase "abusers of themselves with mankind" is a more accurate translation of arsenokoitēs because we can't possibly know the true meaning of arsenokoitēs since Paul was the first person to ever use the word, and he lists the word along with other vices, which do not describe arsenokoitēs.1 However, it must be pointed out that several vices surround the word arsenokoitēs, and we can use these vices as contextual clues to help determine the meaning of arsenokoitēs. One such vice is known as malakos, and it is listed immediately before arsenokoitēs in 1 Cor. 6:9 KJV"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind . . ." 1 Cor. 6:9 KJV..

In Rome, the "passive" sexual partner in a homosexual relationship was viewed as subordinate and effeminate.5 Society shunned and ridiculed the passive partner in such relationships because the person was viewed as effeminate, which was the ultimate insult for a Roman man.6 The majority of Roman men were anxious about being viewed as weak or cowardly with the exception of men who took the "passive" partner role.7In fact, the "passive" partner in a homosexual relationship strived to make himself look feminine.8 Thus, Paul may have used malakos or μαλακός to refer to these types of men.

Furthermore, other words existed in the ancient Greek language that described effeminate men and these words were much more specific in their meaning than the word malakos. For example, the ancient Greek word ἀνδρόγυνος or andrόgunos referred to "a man-woman, hermaphrodite, womanish man, effeminate person, pathicus, cinaedus" according to A Greek-English Lexicon and "man-woman, hermaphrodite, eunuch, effeminate man" according to the Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary; γύνανδρος or gúnandros meant "of doubtful sex, womanish;" ἡμίανδρος or hēmíandros meant "half man, half eunuch;" and μαλακόσωμος meant "effeminate."18 Moreover, a very common ancient Greek word, θηλυδρίας, referred to "a womanish, effeminate person" according to An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon;an "effeminate person" according to A Greek-English Lexicon; andan "effeminate man" according to the Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary.19

It is true that there were other ancient Greek words which referred to men who were effeminate; however, there were also other ancient Greek words which referred to men who were cowardly. For example, μαλακιστέον meant "one must display weakness" and μαλακοψυχέω meant "to be cowardly."11 Paul could have used one of these words if he had intended the vice listed as malakos to be translated strictly as cowardly. Instead, he labeled the vice as malakos, which has several meanings that can be summed up with one word: "effeminate." Thus, since malakos is situated next to arsenokoites, which also refers to male homosexuality, it is obvious that malakos referred to a passive sexual partner in a male-male relationship.

5"In Rome, an essential part of the passive role was a feminine appearance" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 72). Thus, although men in the passive homosexual role may have been referred to as malakos, it is their femininity, not their sexual position and sexuality, that is described by malakos."

6"ευρυπρωκτος." Morwood & Taylor (Eds.), 2002, p. 145; "(I)t is equally clear that in Greek and especially Roman cultures at the beginning of the Common Era the passive partner in a homoerotic relationship, the cinaedus, was considered expressly girlish and was hence held in contempt (citing Lilja, (1983), p. 74, 96; Richlin (1993); Taylor (1997)).” In any case, “effeminacy” in our sources does not refer to the sexual orientation of gender identification of a (male) person of whom it is used but to his moral quality as characterized by the traditional signs of effeminacy-lack of self-control and yielding to pleasures. This certainly motivated Paul to use the word malakos in his list of vices" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 117-118). Return

7"The basic meaning of the word malakos is 'soft,' and it is used with its derivatives (malthakos, malakia) in various contexts that speaks about, for instance, frailty of body or character, illness, sentimentality, or moral weakness. It often has a effeminate nuance, especially when dealing with pederasty. On this basis, it has been assumed that in the vice list Paul cites in 1 Corinthians 6:9, malakos would mean the passive partner in a pedersatic relationship; Scroggs speaks of an 'effeminate call-boy.'

In Greek sources the word itself is not used in this sense, although it is sometimes mentioned in the context of pederasty. Hence, although malakos can be used ot ridicule homosexual behavior, this is not its only meaning and in every context. In a papyrus letter from around 245 B.C.E., Demophon, an Egyptian, asks an official, Ptolemaios, to help with festivities. He asks Ptolemaios to send a musician, Zenobius, whose nickname is malakos. According to his reputation, he played his drums and castanets dressed up in fancy clothes, following the wishes especially of the ladies. His nickname may refer to his effeminate appearance, but the text suggests no further sexual associations.

A clearer reference to pederasty comes from an excerpt of Plautus's text, translated from Greek, where a voice that belongs to a beloved boy says about himself: 'and when it comes to dancing, there is no lither play-boy than I.' In Latin the sentence reads, Tum ad saltandum non cinaedus malacus aequest atque ego. The word cinaedus (Greek, kinaidos) certainly means a boy prostitute, but malacus (Greek, malakos) is not its synonym but an epithet, which in the context of dancing obviously means soft and graceful, perhaps feminine movement" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 117). Return

8"κίναιδος." A Greek-English Lexicon, 1940; "(I)t is equally clear that in Greek and especially Roman cultures at the beginning of the Common Era the passive partner in a homoerotic relationship, the cinaedus, was considered expressly girlish and was hence held in contempt (citing Lilja, (1983), p. 96; Richlin (1993); Taylor (1997))”(Nissinen, 1998, p. 117-118). Return

12"In any case, 'effeminacy' in our sources does not refer to the sexual orientation or gender identification of a (male) person of whom it is used but to his moral quality as characterized by the traditional signs of effeminacy-lack of self-control and yielding to pleasures" Nissinen, 1998, p. 118. Return

5"'Active' and 'passive' sexual roles are therefore necessarily isomorphic with super subordinates and subordinate social status; hence, an adult, male citizen of Athens can have legitimate sexual relations only with statutory minors (his inferiors not in age but in social and political status): The proper targets of his sexual desire include, specifically, women, boys, foreigners, and slaves – all of them persons who do not enjoy the same legal and political rights and privileges that he does (Halperin, 1989, p. 49). Return

6"For the Roman, virility was the greatest prize, and essential requirement for the adult male, allied with power and dominance and the whole concept of the conqueror. This is yet another phallocentric society where the male is defined as the bold aggressor. The Roman pater familias was an absolute master" (Spencer, 1995, p. 68). Return

7"Moreover, the Greeks showed little toleration for adults who took the passive role in any homoerotic relationship" (Bullough, 1976, p. 1089). Return

8"(I)n Rome, an essential part of the passive partner was a feminine appearance" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 72). Return

9"Within the military system, pederasty was linked with valor and courage and said to be justified by the gods" (Bullough, 1976, p. 108). Return

A Brief history of Greek and Roman sexuality: Although the "passive" role in a male-male relationship may have been viewed sometimes as effeminate in Greek culture, homosexual relations were not viewed as effeminate; they were considered common and necessary in society (Spencer, 1995, p. 47 & 51). In Greece, a man was supposed to choose a boy-lover based on the boy's character, his "manliness," and not based on the boy's physical beauty (Crompton, 2003, p. 7). Moreover, for the boys who were chosen to be older men's lovers, it was considered an honor, and they were given gifts and placed in positions of the highest honor (Crompton, 2003, p. 7). It was disgraceful for attractive or affluent men to not be able to obtain a boy-lover because then it was assumed that it was the men's bad character and ill-repute that caused them to fail in their endeavors (Crompton, 2003, p. 7). In fact, in Greece, "(p)hysical eroticism could take both heterosexual or homosexual forms, but spiritual love was something that happened between men only" (Nissinen, 1998, p. 65). Thus, a husband could receive physical pleasure from his wife, but if he sought friendship and spiritual fulfillment, he would have to enter into a pederastic romance (Nissinen, 1998, p. 65).

At any rate, since a man being in a homosexual relationship with a boy was not considered malakos or "effeminate" in ancient Greece and since a "passive" man in ancient Rome was never referred to in ancient writings as malakos, the word malakos should not be translated to mean "effeminate" in a homosexual way. Based on the historical context and the meaning of malakos, Paul most likely meant to use the word malakos to describe men who were morally weak or soft or who were cowards.